There exist several metadata modeling tools for relational and multidimensional data sources. Those tools provide user interface components to help users to design and analyze their metadata models. Those user interface components show database tables and the joins between them in a diagram.
Such a diagram is useful to provide an “at a glance” understanding of the metadata layout. It however becomes less useful as the number of nodes, e.g., tables, in the diagram increases.
When this type of diagram needs to show more than 30 nodes, in many cases, scrolling of the screen becomes necessary to view several nodes. Thus, it becomes difficult to find nodes of interest and to create relationships between desired nodes.
There is a user interface that shows a selected node and the nodes directly connected to it. This type of view helps the user somewhat in getting a better understanding of parts of the model. It however provides a read-only and static view, whose functionality is limited.
It is therefore desirable to provide a mechanism to show nodes in a better manner such that the user can manage the nodes easily.